Judges ultimately looked more favorably at Cariaso’s sharp counter-striking, which won the day via unanimous 29-28 scores.

The flyweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 169 event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

UFC newcomer Martinez, who replaced an injured Kyoji Horiguchi on two weeks’ notice, pressed for a takedown at the opening bell, but Cariaso managed to get space, which he used to thump his short-notice foe with kick after kick. Martinez again pushed for a clinch-fest, wary of the precision strikes coming his way, and burned much of the round pressing Cariaso against the fence before finishing a big takedown.

As it turned out, Martinez’s early attack wasn’t indicative of his overall approach to the fight. He stood toe-to-toe with Cariaso, winging big punches. The better timed counters of Cariaso found their mark, however, and a winded Martinez again pushed for the takedown. The fight’s pace ground to a halt as the two canceled each other out against the fence.

Cariaso did his best work early in the third, peppering Martinez with straight lefts and quick rights. Martinez, though, answered quickly with a left hand, wobbling Cariaso. Despite that, the fight again slunk to the cage, and more time expired. It eventually returned to center-octagon, where Cariaso proved the superior technician.

“I felt great about this fight,” Cariaso said. “My hands were really going and my jab was really working. (I’m) just a little frustrated because he was really working my legs. But I think working my jab really won me this fight. I wanted to use my wrestling defense to get out the cage a little bit more, but everything went according to plan.”

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